China's renewable energy revolution

Strong state policies, rising coal prices and improved technology have prompted a surge of investment in green technology and a government pledge to secure 15% of the country's energy from renewable sources by 2020

Vast storage tanks at China National Petroleum Corporation's plant in Urumqi. Xinjiang has China's biggest untapped oil and gas deposits. A pipeline stretching thousands of miles across the country pumps the supplies from the deserts of the west to the factories on the eastern seaboard

Dormitories, storage tanks and refinery towers at the China National Petroleum Corporation plant in Urumqi. China is stepping up its exploration of oil and gas fields in western China to power its fast growing economy

Fields of wind turbines outside Urumqi. China is trying to rebalance its energy mix by using more renewables. China's wind energy capacity has doubled in size in each of the past three years and is forecast to be the biggest in the world by the end of 2009

A farmer's tractor chugs past wind turbines in Dabancheng. The gales through this valley get so fierce that trains and lorries have been overturned. Police occasionally shut the road to avoid similar accidents